Jaisan Carr, 12, center, concentrates on reading about women in democracy during his sixth-grade class on Wednesday, March 27, 2013, at Arbor Hill Elementary in Albany, N.Y. (Cindy Schultz / Times Union)

Jaisan Carr, 12, center, concentrates on reading about women in...

Teacher Jefferson Weidman, center, leads his class in a discussion about women in democracy during his sixth-grade class on Wednesday, March 27, 2013, at Arbor Hill Elementary in Albany, N.Y. (Cindy Schultz / Times Union)

Teacher Jefferson Weidman, center, leads his class in a discussion...

Students from third- through sixth-grade play violin during orchestra class on Wednesday, March 27, 2013, at Arbor Hill Elementary in Albany, N.Y. (Cindy Schultz / Times Union)

Students from third- through sixth-grade play violin during...

Alattia Myers, 8, right, prepares to play violin during orchestra class for third- through sixth-grade on Wednesday, March 27, 2013, at Arbor Hill Elementary in Albany, N.Y. (Cindy Schultz / Times Union)

Capital Region school districts will see significant funding restorations in this year's state budget instead of anticipated cuts, data show.

All but one district in the region, Voorheesville, will see its operating aid rise, and some smaller districts will see double-digit increases in operating aid, according to information released late Tuesday.

The average increase in operating funding is 6.59 percent, according to a Times Union analysis of budget data. Buoyed by a $2.3 million increase in aid for students attending charter schools, the Albany City School District received the largest aid increase in the region.

Albany's operating aid will rise $6.5 million, about 10 times more than the $666,580 district officials anticipated, said Superintendent Marguerite Vanden Wyngaard.

The district would still have to trim small courses and cut some jobs, she added, though not the 100 positions previously considered.

"It provides a little bit of breathing room, (but) it doesn't mean we're out of the woods in the long term," she said.

Assemblywoman Patricia Fahy, a freshman Democrat from Albany who previously served on the school board, said the district did "dramatically better" than Cuomo's original proposal. She noted that 45 percent of the state aid for Albany schools goes to charter schools that serve 20 percent of its students — and was pleased to see the aid increase.

State officials released a district-by-district breakdown of school aid Tuesday before the state Senate voted to pass the state's $135.1 billion budget. The Assembly is expected to approve the budget Thursday.

While Gov. Andrew Cuomo's budget proposal increased the overall pool of education funds by 4 percent, he pushed to distribute money through competitive grant programs and a separate "fiscal stabilization fund," as opposed to more traditional formulas. Legislators, facing pressure from parents and school board members, pushed to shift the use of the funds.

Overall state education spending will top $21 billion. Funds moving through various formulas will increase from $19.89 billion to $20.83 billion.

Some legislators praised themselves over the aid changes, while school advocates traded their initial howls of protest for golf claps.

"Budgeting is the allocation of disappointments," said Tim Kremer, executive director of the New York State School Boards Association. "There are people who are pleased with 4, 5 or 6 percent increases on their state aid." Others will be disappointed, he added."

In a statement, Alliance for Quality Education Executive Director Billy Easton said this was the "best education budget we have seen since 2008" and "begins to turn the corner" after steep funding cuts in 2011.

In Niskayuna, district officials marked another year of lost funding. Without building aid factored in, the district received a 0.75 percent increase of $84,249. That is not enough to stave off staff reductions, as well as cuts to electives and other courses, said Superintendent Susan Kay Salvaggio.

"We've done exactly what we were asked to do as a district and we're at the end of what we can do; we're about out of tricks," she said.

In Troy, state officials made a calculation error and did not contribute the full amount of charter school aid available to the district, interim superintendent Brian Howard said. He added that state officials informed him the error would be corrected and the district would net a $600,000 increase over last year. That will be enough to save some teaching jobs, though nine positions will likely need to be cut, he said.

Kremer called the restorations "unpredictable" because of a "complicated network of formulas" used for the district-by-district breakdowns. Senate Republicans more than restored a Cuomo-proposed cut to "high-tax" aid favoring Long Island districts, where all nine senators are GOP members — including the leader, Dean Skelos.

"We fought long and hard to ensure our fair share of total state aid was maintained for our region," Sen. Ken LaValle, R-Long Island, said in a news release.

Democrats, who dominate the Assembly, also quietly inserted $18 million of "bullet aid" that sent funding to schools in their members' districts. Schools in Rotterdam, Schalmont, Albany, Colonie, Cohoes and Troy benefited. Senate Republicans inserted $15.1 million that it will give out later.

This process has been derided as education pork, making Kremer grumble. But legislative officials were unabashed about the line items, and insisted it was distributed without a hint of partisanship.

"These additional funds are intended to smooth out inequities in the school aid formula and will be distributed based on need to districts represented by both Democrats and Republicans," said Senate Republican spokesman Scott Reif.